My Other Son

"May good fortune be with you and may your guiding light be strong."
- from the song, Forever Young

It is Sunday evening and I'm sitting and listening to the five boys assembled in our family room who are currently eating pizza and playing video games. They have gathered here to say farewell to Jonathan. He is leaving for Halifax in the morning to start school at Dalhousie. I love listening to the boys. I'm going to miss the sound of their antics as they laugh and joke, zinging one another with insults and jabs the way boys do. Next to Jacob's departure for Guelph next Saturday, the departure of Jonathan to Dal is the hardest one for me. I love this boy. He has spent a lot of time in our home these last years - enough that we often refer to our guest room as Jonathan's room. He has been on vacation with us every summer since the boys started high school. He calls me Mom.

On Friday, Jonathan's family invited we three to join them at the Granite Club for a family dinner. We had a wonderful time. They thanked us for the love and friendship we have extended to Jono these past years. Of course, we are the ones who are grateful. Jono and Jacob are only five days apart in age and Jono has been the perfect complement to our only child. I wanted a sibling for Jacob and I longed for another child to share my love with. I found that in the beautiful blonde boy Jacob brought home the night of eighth-grade graduation. I remember the night well. Ten boys came to our house for a sleep-over graduation party that started with a swim in our neighbours' pool. They were up all night playing and watching T.V. and they were very noisy. The noisiest one, by far, was Jono. At three o'clock in the morning I walked down the stairs to the downstairs family room, two floors below where I was trying to sleep and I told the kids to quiet down. But I couldn't be mad at them. They were being boys.

Now I shudder at the thought of the silence that will soon fill the house. I will be counting the days until Thanksgiving - the first time Jono will be home from school. I know his mom will want to keep him home every moment of that weekend but I know she won't. She is a good mom. She'll share him a little. In the meantime, I have a plan to send regular care packages and he has promised to call me and e-mail me often. He is my other son and I love him very much.